I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about ^[a]two miles away. ¹⁹ And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

²⁰ Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ²¹ Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that ^(A)whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ Martha said to Him, ^(B)“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am ^(C)the resurrection and the life. ^(D)He who believes in Me, though he may ^(E)die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, ^(F)I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy

²⁸ And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” ²⁹ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but ^[b]was in the place where Martha met Him. ^31 (G)Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, ^[c]saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”

³² Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she ^(H)fell down at His feet, saying to Him, ^(I)“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴ And He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

^35 (J)Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

³⁷ And some of them said, “Could not this Man, ^(K)who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”

¹¹ For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, ^(A)that we should love one another, ¹² not as ^(B)Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

¹³ Do not marvel, my brethren, if ^(C)the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love ^[a]his brother abides in death. ^15 (D)Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^(E)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

The Outworking of Love

^16 (F)By this we know love, ^(G)because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷ But ^(H)whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

¹⁸ My little children, ^(I)let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

Job Speaks of Life’s Woes

Gog and Allies Attack Israel

38 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ^2 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)set your face against ^(C)Gog, of the land of ^(D)Magog, ^[a]the prince of Rosh, ^(E)Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, ³ and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. ^4 (F)I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and ^(G)lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, ^(H)all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. ⁵ Persia, ^[b]Ethiopia, and ^[c]Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; ^6 (I)Gomer and all its troops; the house of ^(J)Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you.

^7 (K)“Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them. ^8 (L)After many days ^(M)you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword ^(N)and gathered from many people on ^(O)the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them ^(P)dwell safely. ⁹ You will ascend, coming ^(Q)like a storm, covering the ^(R)land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.”

¹⁰ ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: ¹¹ You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of ^(S)unwalled villages; I will ^(T)go to a peaceful people, ^(U)who dwell ^[d]safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— ¹² to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, ^(V)and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. ^13 (W)Sheba, ^(X)Dedan, the merchants ^(Y)of Tarshish, and all ^(Z)their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ ” ’

¹⁴ “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ^(AA)“On that day when My people Israel ^(AB)dwell safely, will you not know it? ^15 (AC)Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. ¹⁶ You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may ^(AD)know Me, when I am ^(AE)hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.” ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord God: “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?

Judgment on Gog

¹⁸ “And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face. ¹⁹ For ^(AF)in My jealousy ^(AG)and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ^(AH)‘Surely in that day there shall be a great ^[e]earthquake in the land of Israel, ²⁰ so that ^(AI)the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. ^(AJ)The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’ ²¹ I will ^(AK)call for ^(AL)a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God. ^(AM)“Every man’s sword will be against his brother. ²² And I will ^(AN)bring him to judgment with ^(AO)pestilence and bloodshed; ^(AP)I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, ^(AQ)great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. ²³ Thus I will magnify Myself and ^(AR)sanctify Myself, ^(AS)and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’

Gog’s Armies Destroyed

39 “And ^(AT)you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, ^[f]the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; ² and I will ^(AU)turn you around and lead you on, ^(AV)bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. ³ Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. ^4 (AW)You shall ^[g]fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; ^(AX)I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. ⁵ You shall ^[h]fall on ^[i]the open field; for I have spoken,” says the Lord God. ^6 (AY)“And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live ^[j]in security in ^(AZ)the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the Lord. ^7 (BA)So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them ^(BB)profane My holy name anymore. ^(BC)Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. ^8 (BD)Surely it is coming, and it shall be done,” says the Lord God. “This is the day ^(BE)of which I have spoken.

⁹ “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the ^[k]javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. ¹⁰ They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; ^(BF)and they will plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them,” says the Lord God.

The Burial of Gog

¹¹ “It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of ^[l]Hamon Gog. ¹² For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, ^(BG)in order to cleanse the land. ¹³ Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain ^(BH)renown for it on the day that ^(BI)I am glorified,” says the Lord God. ¹⁴ “They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of ^[m]a search party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order ^(BJ)to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search. ¹⁵ The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, he shall ^[n]set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. ¹⁶ The name of the city will also be ^[o]Hamonah. Thus they shall ^(BK)cleanse the land.” ’

A Triumphant Festival

¹⁷ “And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ^(BL)‘Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field:

Israel Restored to the Land

^21 (BT)“I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and ^(BU)My hand which I have laid on them. ^22 (BV)So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. ^23 (BW)The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore ^(BX)I hid My face from them. I ^(BY)gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. ^24 (BZ)According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.” ’

²⁵ “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(CA)‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the ^(CB)whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name— ^26 (CC)after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they ^(CD)dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. ^27 (CE)When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I ^(CF)am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, ^28 (CG)then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them ^[p]captive any longer. ^29 (CH)And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have ^(CI)poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”